General Information

What is Maul?

Maul is a versatile multi-band distortion and tone sculpting plugin for VST, AU and RTAS compatible hosts/DAWs.


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What can Maul be used for?

Maul is designed to subtly or radically change the tone and character of signals. It can impart subtle enhancement and colouring or intense, shredding distortion and many, many things in between. Combined with the TransMod modulation system, the possibilities are extremely varied.

Basic applications include enhancing loudness, making tracks stand out in a mix and enhancing the character and tone of a signal. More extreme uses include transforming the incoming signal with wild distortion. With creative use of modulation, Maul is great for MIDI-triggered gating effects, dirty filtering patterns, sweeps and much more besides. You can use the envelope follower to control the amount of drive depending on the level of the incoming signal, use cross-modulating LFOs to change the frequency spectrum for each drive stage or 'play' multiple parameters with MIDI notes.. take the demo for a spin and see what it can do to your tracks!


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Can you tell me about the routing options?

Maul allows 3 configurations of its drive stages. Firstly, you can use the 3 drive stages in parallel with filtering, effectively forming a multiband distortion processor. A second configuration allows you to use the drive stages in series, with no filtering controls. Lastly, it is possible to enable only a single drive stage.


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How about the transient control?

Each of the 3 drive stages features a Dynamics control which is a simplified version of DCAM EnvShaper, the modelled transient processor in the DCAM Dynamics bundle. It allows you to emphasize the attack or sustain characteristics of the signal.


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What is the TransMod modulation system?

FXpansion's TransMod modulation system, also implemented in the DCAM: Synth Squad suite of software synths, Tremor, FXpansion's synthetic drum machine and Etch, our versatile filtering effect, allows you to dial in complex modulation setups in a very intuitive way. You can set modulation depths from each modulation source to virtually any parameters in Maul in a much more visual way than using a traditional modulation matrix.


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Does Maul come with a standalone version?

No - Maul is an effect plugin designed to be used within a suitable VST/AU/RTAS-compatible host or DAW.


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What operating systems are compatible with Maul?

Maul is supported on Windows 7 and Mac OSX 10.6.2 or later (Mac support on Intel only). It is provided in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. It may work on older OS versions, but we cannot test or offer support on these platforms.


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Can Maul be MIDI controlled?

Yes, although it is fully dependent on your host's MIDI implementation for effect plugins. In many hosts, it is necessary to run Maul as an instrument or as a 'MIDI-controlled effect' on an instrument channel in order to be able to route MIDI to the plugin. Maul allows you to assign MIDI CCs to its parameters (and to parameter modulation depth amounts from individual TransMod modulation sources), and also features some extra MIDI note-triggered functions - for resetting LFO cycles and changing their rates, and also for generating various modulation sources, such as note pitch, velocity and a random number generator.


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Can Maul be automated from my DAW?

Yes, all of Maul's parameters are exposed as automation parameters to the host.


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Purchasing / Licensing

Is Maul a download or boxed product?

Maul is a download-only product available from the FXpansion.com webshop.


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What kind of copy protection scheme is used?

This product features a challenge-response authorization system with three installs allowed on your own machines simultaneously.

  • You do NOT need to have an internet connection on the computers on which it is installed.
  • Until the product is authorized, it runs in demo mode.

We have tried very hard to make the authorization procedure as pain-free as possible. Please understand that it is necessary for safeguarding your investment in future development and user support.

Our products do not use iLok or any other unified protection scheme. We do not believe in such systems' security and would rather not pass on their costs to our customers.


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Can I use it on both my laptop and main machine?

Yes - you can install on up to 3 machines as long as only 1 is running it at any one time. Site / volume licensing is also available (POA - please contact us for details).


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Do I need to re-authorize when installing the OS again or upgrading the OS/hardware?

A new major operating system version is enough of a change that the authorization system will require re-authing the product; point releases should be fine. Likewise, a significant hardware change will also require re-authorization. We will be monitoring the situation closely and adjusting the flexibility of the authorization system to get the best balance of copy protection and annoyance levels.

If reinstalling an existing OS without changing any hardware, you will be able to save the auth file and simply re-import it when authorizing the product again.


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Do you allow license transfers?

Yes, however:

  • If you're the seller, you must contact us in advance of the sale. If you're the prospective second-hand buyer, you must check that the seller is cleared to sell. If in doubt, contact us.
  • There is a flat $50 fee per product for a license transfer, which can be purchased from our online shop.
  • Review copies, NFRs (Not For Resale copies, sometimes used for in-store demos), etc., cannot be transferred under any circumstances.
  • We reserve the right to refuse a license transfer request.

Once a transfer is authorised and the fee has been paid, the new owner is entitled to exactly the same upgrade paths and technical support resources as if they had bought the product new.


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Why is the License Transfer fee so high in relation to the cost of the product?

Our License Transfer fee is a set amount due to the very real costs of providing product support in the form of responsive technical support, bugfixes and new features, to the customers who buy our products. Product support is something we take extremely seriously, and is one of the reasons our products stand out amongst the competition.

We are happy to provide a transfer service for most of our products, but we cannot accept the liability of the costs of supporting a new user. If we were to provide free or very cheap license transfers, the prices of our products would have to be a lot higher, and it does not make sense to inflict this on the vast majority of customers who want to keep using the products and do not intend to resell them.


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